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Question: Incantations - your favourite side :: Total Votes:70 Poll choices Votes Statistics Part One 19  [27.14%] Part Two 5  [7.14%] Part Three 16  [22.86%] Part Four 30  [42.86%] Guests cannot vote

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Inkanta Group: Admins Posts: 1453 Joined: Feb. 2000 Posted: Sep. 18 2005, 21:00 Odd, for me, it was instant. These days, guess Part IV is emerging as my favorite, in that on my road trip when I played Incantations, I repeated IV. Sometimes I still like to listen to it differentially ordered: I, III, II, IV. That started when I had to manipulate the sequence a bit to have III playing when I was running up the hills and needed a push of energy, and wanting to listen to II when I was back to the Mississippi, running with herons and sometimes even pelicans. Still not sure why Longfellow wasn't sure what was which ("Can it be..."). You can identify those beasties a long way off....even through the mists of morning. -------------- "No such thing as destiny; only choices exist." From:  Moongarden's "Solaris." Back to top

hiawatha Group: Members Posts: 2391 Joined: Mar. 2004 Posted: Sep. 22 2005, 08:17 Should I add some photos of from a couple of days ago of the shores of Gitche-gumme? -------------- "In the land of the Dacotahs, Where the Falls of Minnehaha Flash and gleam among the oak-trees, Laugh and leap into the valley." - Song of Hiawatha Back to top

EeToN Group: Members Posts: 845 Joined: Sep. 2001 Posted: Sep. 23 2005, 06:29 Quote (hiawatha @ Sep. 22 2005, 14:17) Should I add some photos of from a couple of days ago of the shores of Gitche-gumme? Yes, please! I collect these kinds of photos, too. -------------- If I were music, I would be Enigmatism. Back to top

hiawatha Group: Members Posts: 2391 Joined: Mar. 2004 Posted: Sep. 23 2005, 09:18 I have one up now: http://tubular.net/forums....ry52300 -------------- "In the land of the Dacotahs, Where the Falls of Minnehaha Flash and gleam among the oak-trees, Laugh and leap into the valley." - Song of Hiawatha Back to top

natertb Group: Members Posts: 53 Joined: April 2004 Posted: Oct. 04 2005, 13:54 Here is my opinion of each track: Part 1: Love the beginning with the vocals, the disco like section before the flute solo, and the intense flute solo! Part 2: I usually skip to the Song of Hiawatha. The rest of the part is a little too quiet for me. Part 3: A section that Mike should have done completely by himself, apart from the drums, of course. The first melody that is heard when the drums kick in is a little annoying but the other synthesizers and electric guitars rock. Part 4: The beginning waltz is a little quiet. Usually skip to the vibraphone section. I love when that part is played again later in the track with Mike's scratch electric guitars! -------------- Waiting hour by hour... Back to top

Redvers Group: Members Posts: 23 Joined: Oct. 2005 Posted: Oct. 19 2005, 19:06 How to choose! I just love to sit down and listen to all of it. If pressed for time, Side's 1 and 4 always get a play. Side one is great but at the end of side 4 I always feel like I've been to somewhere special - so 4 gets my vote. Having said that, unlike many, I can't wait for Maddy to start on side 2 and that guitar on side 3 is awesome! As I said, how to choose! Can't wait for the DVD - preordered from amazon.uk, not going to bother waiting for it to be released in Australia.   Toss up between this and Amarok as my favourite. -------------- Logic, my dear Zoe, merely enables one to be wrong with authority. Back to top

Deadcalm Group: Awaiting Authorisation Posts: 752 Joined: Nov. 2004 Posted: Jan. 10 2006, 06:19 Just Listened again this Morning  ... Its got to be Side 4  or TK 4 on the cd ... Everything in the Album seems to be Building towards the Guitars at 9 mins into it ... Then wham at 11- 30 it delivers .. Although I like the other Sides i always turn up the volume for this bit.. Similar to the Electric Storm on HER RIDGE but more subtle..  Nice Album though ... Back to top

BTH Group: Members. Posts: 179 Joined: Dec. 2005 Posted: Feb. 14 2006, 22:16 Part 4 is possibly my favourite 17 minutes of Mike Oldfield's music... The beginning is so subtle and ominous, the big bass drum sounds building dramatically to the incredibly pure vibraphone section. The melody and rhythm of this passage always gets me - I can never quite get my head around it and I think thats why I love listening to it so much - I always hear something different. The guitars joining at around 3:35 is one of those shiver inducing moments and it delivers every time. Meanwhile the synth backing is gradually building, playing really unusual chords. The tension builds and builds with the yearning, wrenching quality of the guitar getting more intense. Then everything drops away leaving the vibes ringing alone. They are quickly rejoined by the synths then a beautifully lyrical bass guitar starts in the background. The tension starts building again and waves of synth rise to the surface... I really don't get it when people say that this section is repetitive - there is so much going on behind the intricacy of the vibraphones. I love the little synth flourish that shatters the tension and introduces the bass, fuzzy guitar, bodhran and sleighbells section then when the gorgeous guitar solo kicks in I'm absolutely elevated - again mad synth chords in the background that really create an edgy feeling. Probably my very favourite bit is the synths replaying the vibraphone theme and the addition of elements to it - the rhythm is just so driving and the whole thing just picks up a huge forward momentum until the guitar solo arrives like a wave breaking leading into the huge synth climax which is a restating of the main theme (as sung by the choir at the start of part one) in a different key... Then Ode To Cynthia breaks all the tension with it's lovely warm marimba sound, building synths and voices. When the synth melody kicks in at 14:00 I always get a lump in my throat - it sounds so melancholy and forlorn - but its quickly swept up towards the vocal section by an all too short, skirling guitar break. I always find the sung part extremely uplifting and Maddy Prior's voice realy shines, singing a fairly difficult melody. I love how the final line is echoed and stretched. That and the way the final climax slows down towards the graceful conclusion  is a really satifying way to finish the album, especially with the strange chord that rounds it all off! Overall I really believe that it's Mike's most accomplished piece of composition - it's intricate and adventurous and by no means a casual listen, but it repays close attention with huge emotional impact and aural satisfaction... As you may have guessed I like it quite a lot! :-) -------------- Tá mé an amadán ag cheoil... Back to top

lostrom Group: Members Posts: 53 Joined: Feb. 2006 Posted: Mar. 04 2006, 06:59 Part three for me, that's why it was so annoying they edited it for the first cd-release. Back to top

ImAFoolAndImLaughing Group: Members Posts: 536 Joined: Feb. 2006 Posted: Mar. 08 2006, 18:43 I love all of Incantations - it's the piece of Oldfield's that I find myself returning to again and again. Probably because I mislaid my copy and spent whole years without it, before finding a copy on CD, and rediscovering it in all its glory! If I had to choose my fave bits, though, I'd say are the fast pipes that start about halfway through part three, and those gorgeous drums, perfectly-timed handclaps, and that high-pitched electronica-ey tune that leads into and runs beneath the "Diana" section in Part I - absolutely gorgeous! Tony -------------- "I was in this prematurely air conditioned supermarket and there were these bathing caps you could buy that had these kind of Fourth of July plumes on them that were red and yellow and blue and I wasn't tempted to buy one but I was reminded of the fact that I had been avoiding the beach." Back to top

OneGeneratuonTooLate Group: Members Posts: 60 Joined: April 2006 Posted: June 11 2006, 20:25 Part Two i really don't like in any way... Part 1,3,4 are probably equals, they are wonderful. Back to top

SoimSandheaver Group: Members Posts: 325 Joined: May 2006 Posted: July 12 2006, 03:40 I'd say Part 1. Right from that wonderful opening harmony, the wonderful flutes, it was so peaceful. I loved every second of it. It was like pure heartfelt song pouring out at the seams. It continued through to Parts 2-4, but Part 1 stood out for me, personally. But I loved Hiawatha in Part 2, the rather dramatic effects in Part 3, and the lovely and peaceful "Ode To Cynthia" which led to the climax of the Incantations suite. Pure bliss. -------------- "Three blokes go into a pub, one of them's a little bit stupid, then the whole scene unfolds, with a tedious inevitability." Back to top

hiawatha Group: Members Posts: 2391 Joined: Mar. 2004 Posted: July 12 2006, 11:21 It keeps changing for me. Usually, my favorite section is the first 3 or so minutes of Side 1. For a good long time, my favorite section was Side 3 Fanfare. At other times, my favorite section has been the long Side 3 solo, or the "Make Way" sections in the middle of Side 4. For a brief recent time, my favorite section was the trumpet pavane from Side 1. Whatever happens to be my favorite section of Incantations also happens to be my favorite piece of any music by anyone, ever. There are sections of Incantations I've never had as my favorite section: the end of Side 3 (is this likely post-Exegesis?) the end of Side 1 (which is like the start of Side 1, but less driven), "Hiawatha", and "Queen and Huntress". -------------- "In the land of the Dacotahs, Where the Falls of Minnehaha Flash and gleam among the oak-trees, Laugh and leap into the valley." - Song of Hiawatha Back to top

Inkanta Group: Admins Posts: 1453 Joined: Feb. 2000 Posted: July 12 2006, 18:28 It's still Part IV for me. I fell asleep to it last night (in all fairness I was exhausted), watching the moon, thinking about life.... -------------- "No such thing as destiny; only choices exist." From:  Moongarden's "Solaris." Back to top

ThisName Group: Members Posts: 307 Joined: July 2005 Posted: July 13 2006, 06:49 I have really been listening lots to incantations recently and agree that it is simply sublime. If any album transcends ordinary life, then this is the one that can put you somewhere else. It really is monumental. I have to say my 2 fave bits are the opening to part two with that ever rising arpeggio that you think will never end, beautiful. Then you get that lovely dialogue between guitar and bass, its so intimate. The other bit has to be that astounding guitar solo in part 4 which is breathtaking. I just wish there was more of it. I would have to say that it is the single best guitar solo in music history! -------------- www.ryanyardmusic.com Back to top

Taurus 4 Group: Members Posts: 46 Joined: Aug. 2007 Posted: Aug. 28 2007, 11:34 Part Four for me as well. Incantations is definitely my favourite Oldfield album of all, and I love it from start to finish, but the fourth side is the one that I love all the parts of the most. The delicate intro, the ringing, insistent vibraphones, the soaring synths that lead into the celebrated last five minutes... Perfection. After that it's One, Two and Three in that order, but really it's all just shades of genius to me. Back to top

Sweetpea Group: Members Posts: 1476 Joined: April 2007 Posted: Aug. 29 2007, 21:13 My favorite is Part 4 and probably for many of the reasons already stated by others. But I don't think anyone has mentioned how wonderfully the tambourine(?) is incorporated into the piece as an important character. -------------- "I'm no physicist, but technically couldn't Mike both be with the horse and be flying through space at the same time? (On account of the earth's orbit around the Sun and all that). So it seems he never had to make the choice after all. I bet he's kicking himself now." - clotty Back to top

New Incantation Group: Members Posts: 85 Joined: Sep. 2007 Posted: Sep. 09 2007, 05:18 Quote (BTH @ Feb. 15 2006, 03:16) Part 4 is possibly my favourite 17 minutes of Mike Oldfield's music... The beginning is so subtle and ominous, the big bass drum sounds building dramatically to the incredibly pure vibraphone section. The melody and rhythm of this passage always gets me - I can never quite get my head around it and I think thats why I love listening to it so much - I always hear something different. The guitars joining at around 3:35 is one of those shiver inducing moments and it delivers every time. Meanwhile the synth backing is gradually building, playing really unusual chords. The tension builds and builds with the yearning, wrenching quality of the guitar getting more intense. Then everything drops away leaving the vibes ringing alone. They are quickly rejoined by the synths then a beautifully lyrical bass guitar starts in the background. The tension starts building again and waves of synth rise to the surface... I really don't get it when people say that this section is repetitive - there is so much going on behind the intricacy of the vibraphones. I love the little synth flourish that shatters the tension and introduces the bass, fuzzy guitar, bodhran and sleighbells section then when the gorgeous guitar solo kicks in I'm absolutely elevated - again mad synth chords in the background that really create an edgy feeling. Probably my very favourite bit is the synths replaying the vibraphone theme and the addition of elements to it - the rhythm is just so driving and the whole thing just picks up a huge forward momentum until the guitar solo arrives like a wave breaking leading into the huge synth climax which is a restating of the main theme (as sung by the choir at the start of part one) in a different key... Then Ode To Cynthia breaks all the tension with it's lovely warm marimba sound, building synths and voices. When the synth melody kicks in at 14:00 I always get a lump in my throat - it sounds so melancholy and forlorn - but its quickly swept up towards the vocal section by an all too short, skirling guitar break. I always find the sung part extremely uplifting and Maddy Prior's voice realy shines, singing a fairly difficult melody. I love how the final line is echoed and stretched. That and the way the final climax slows down towards the graceful conclusion  is a really satifying way to finish the album, especially with the strange chord that rounds it all off! Overall I really believe that it's Mike's most accomplished piece of composition - it's intricate and adventurous and by no means a casual listen, but it repays close attention with huge emotional impact and aural satisfaction... As you may have guessed I like it quite a lot! :-) ..my sentiments precisely! Incantations, is my favourite MO album so far. It is so inspirational, emotive and totally lifts my spirits when things are going so good. But Part Four, is total Lift Off, for me, and BTH's comments precisely matched my own thoughts in every way. Part Four followed by Part One, Three and then Two. Back to top

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